STEPPING ON GUYANA’S SOVEREIGNTY

Guyana is a sovereign nation. That state entails the declaration by a political system to operate independently of foreign rule or control. It is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself. It is the basic principle of a system of government that is based on the belief that a state is created by the mandate of its people who are the only source of political power and that government must be conducted with the consent of the governed.
The concept of sovereignty is considered one of the most debated issues in political science and international law. Even though several philosophers, including Jean Bodin(1530-1596) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) of France and Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704) of England applied the term to different circumstances, they all have agreed that sovereignty is the ultimate authority in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of law.
They argued that the entrusting of such powers to a government for common protection has led to the development of the doctrine of sovereignty that found expression in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Although Guyana became a sovereign nation on its attainment of independence on May 26, 1966, its sovereignty continued to be stepped-on by Venezuela’s unsupported claim to its territory and by Suriname which had once occupied Guyana’s New River Triangle.
The border issue between Guyana and Suriname is settled, but Venezuela’s persistent claim to Guyana’s territory remains a threat to this country’s sovereignty.
In the early post-independence period, foreign domination of the economy was also seen as a threat to Guyana’s sovereignty. The ruling PNC government noted that political independence was not immediately followed by economic independence. Most decisions affecting its economy were made abroad because foreign companies had owned most of the agricultural and mining sectors.
Two British companies, Booker McConnell and Jessel Securities which had control of the largest sugar estates in the country exerted a great deal of political influence on the nation. In the early 1970s, the Booker McConnell Company accounted for almost one-third of Guyana’s gross national product. It produced 85 percent of its sugar, employed 15 percent of the work force, and accounted for 35 percent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.
Booker’s impact on Guyana’s economy was so great that the country was often humorously referred to as “Booker’s Guiana.”
Guyana’s sovereignty was also threatened by two other foreign companies, which had dominated the mining sector: the Demerara Bauxite Company (Demba), a subsidiary of the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan); and Reynolds Bauxite Company, an affiliate of Reynolds Metals Company of America. Together these firms accounted for 45 percent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings. Foreign companies also had control of the nation’s major banks.
During the 1970s, the PNC government nationalized the major companies operating in the country and regulated the flow of foreign currency, thus eliminating the threat to Guyana’s sovereignty by foreign ownership. Today, Guyana’s sovereignty is severely being threatened once again, this time by China’s Belt and Road Initiative and by ExxonMobil.
Instead of observing and adhering to the laws of the land, they are dictating policies and creating new guidelines for the nation and the government to follow. Local content in many areas including the employment of locals is absent from their plans. The actions of China and ExxonMobil as well as Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territory remain a major threat to Guyana’s sovereignty.